Senior BJP leader L K Advani appears to have mended fences with former party president Nitin Gadkari. Supporters said Advani had warmed up to Gadkari over the months.

A close aide of Gadkari said,At present,Advani is the only leader who is batting for a Gadkari rehabilitation at the Centre.

Monday,Advani wished Gadkari on his birthday. He is trying to convince the central committee of the party to allow Gadkari to head a panel to oversee the December 2013 elections in Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan and Delhi.

Gadkari,who was denied a second term as party president following income-tax raids raids on his companies,does not have a defined role at the Centre.

Sources in state BJP said,Gadkari will be soon accommodated at the Centre. Munde takes charge of the Maharashtra campaign in 2014.

Senior leaders said: Advani-Gadkari relations had hit an all-time low last year. When Gadkari chaired the national executive in Mumbai last year,Advani expressed strong disappointment at his decision to amend the party constitution for him to get a second term. Advani wondered what was the haste to bring the amendment in the conclave.

At the time,when leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj was also upset with Gadkari,Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had stood with him. However,that was past. Now,any move to bring back Gadkari to the centre stage will be perceived as anti-Modi.